


Compatibility

by coley_merrin



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Fluff, Knotting, M/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 18:53:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8928994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coley_merrin/pseuds/coley_merrin
Summary: As an omega working in the Alpha Council, Joonmyun has experienced almost everything, except an alpha he's wanted to keep.





	1. Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Created as a gift work <3

***

Joonmyun was wet and he knew everyone could smell it. No one noted it, too polite most of them to do more than take an extra inhale. It was a side effect with working with that many alphas, the pheromones in the air keeping him half hard most of the time even if the alphas were already mated or otherwise uninterested in anything but getting someone’s hands on them. There was a professionalism required of him, but he’d still been tempted to take a few up on it over the past year. He’d made out with a few, and that was usually enough to get him off and sate him for a while.

“Isn’t it cruel to leave an omega here, aroused and unable to do anything about it? Wouldn’t it be better to have a beta than have you sitting in your own wet?”

Well, most of them were too polite anyway.

“Betas are less likely to break up the fights, if they happen,” Joonmyun said, and the alpha sneered at him, before laughing as Joonmyun’s cock twitched.

“A little masochist, then. Get bred, omega. I bet your alpha won’t let you sit here getting hard because of other alphas then.”

He spoke of knotting in the basest way, and Joonmyun glowered inside even as he finished inputting the alpha’s information and sending him away with his packet. Even if the alphas could smell he was aroused, he had never felt in danger. They were alphas, not animals.

Joonmyun inhaled as a group passed him, and smelled something red hot, like burning leaves, a sear of cinnamon, a rasp of pine. A new alpha, one he’d never smelled before.

“Is the initiation room ready?” his boss asked, and Joonmyun startled, not even realizing someone had approached his desk.

“It is,” Joonmyun said. He had overseen the cleaning and preparation of it himself - not that he would have been allowed into it. It was some sacred brotherhood of alphas that Joonmyun was always outside of, the organization that he worked at. There had been chatter of a new alpha being inducted, something that happened as soon as an alpha came of age and proved him or herself as a true alpha. It was a secretive time, one no omega was privy to. It was that alpha that he’d smelled, that new scent, Sehun.

Sehun emerged, a victor to the challenge, it seemed, their newest inductee. His white robe was sheer with sweat, his body sheened with it above the loose pants as he joked with the other young, unbonded alphas. The sudden influx of scent had him gripping his pen, looking down as Sehun looked his way lest he be caught staring in something close to lust. His own scent no doubt betrayed that but it could have been explained away by all of the alphas in the room. 

Sometimes it was better that way.

***

Filing paperwork, chatting with the liaison at the omega association, those were things he’d done a hundred times over. Even if there were less papers, and he worked more out of a spreadsheet to make sure reminder messages for monthly meetings and announcements were sent out in a timely fashion. He was used to answering phones or the questions of visitors, those there to see alpha counsellors or bonding advisors. But there had never been one alpha that had made him sit up a little straighter when Joonmyun caught their scent. And it had almost always seemed like the quantity of alphas emitting pheromones affected Joonmyun more than the individual emitting them.

Sehun, though. Sehun had him clenching his teeth as he waited on hold with a shipping company, trying not to breathe too deeply. It wasn’t even necessarily an appealing scent, but it caught his focus, and it definitely caught the attention of his body. It made him lower his head and focus on some imaginary form, just to keep from seeing if Sehun was in sight, and he definitely did not want to be caught looking as his body took up an insistent thrum. Let them all just pretend it was them, anyone in smelling range who cared to imagine. But when he locked himself in the bathroom, he no longer had to pretend to be decorous or cheerful.

He almost roughly ran his thumb over the head of his cock like he was punishing himself for imagining pulling open Sehun’s pants and filling his mouth with an alpha’s cock. He couldn’t just bend over his desk and beg Sehun to take him, no matter how he smelled, or how he walked, or smiled. Alphas approached him for petting, not the other way around, so unless Sehun asked him for a tryst, all he’d get around that scent was the urge to— His eyes closed, imagining Sehun over him, imagining Sehun thrusting into his mouth and coming against his tongue, and Joonmyun shuddered as he orgasmed. And when that didn’t help, once more before he could go sit back down at the desk without thinking of his cock instead of working.

***

Joonmyun was the most senior omega there, so he was unsurprised and very prepared to take Sehun on a tour and acquaint him of what was available and what was expected of him. There were classes, to keep alphas without a bond aware of their options and responsibilities. There were fitness classes, and social clubs.

“Once a month, there is a group meeting to discuss any changes and take votes on new proposals and welcome new members. That’s in about a week,” Joonmyun said. His body was behaving, almost. He was mostly hard, but he’d tucked himself up almost half an hour before Sehun’s arrival in anticipation. The worst of it was how breathing in Sehun’s scent made his body throb, preparing to be fucked even though all he was was advisor and tour guide. He kept his eyes on Sehun’s face, even if he was tempted to glance down to see how he filled out his pants, or if the distress of Joonmyun’s body was doing things to him. Even if his scent didn’t appeal to Sehun, there was no way he could miss the scent of arousal and sometimes that was all it took. At least, that was how it had been for the alphas in the past.

“These are residences. Some alphas prefer to stay on premises for meetings, or to spend—“ He nearly bumped into Sehun’s side, and stepped away. “I— Some new alphas also stay for additional support and learning and to make a firmer bond with others.”

Oh, his voice went a bit breathy, as Sehun nearly leaned into him.

“Sorry. I just can’t help noticing. Do you ever…?” Sehun’s thumb grazed Joonmyun’s wrist and he nearly shuddered. It was too much, not enough.

Did he ever what? He was too busy breathing, trying not to breathe too deep like doing that would keep Sehun from wondering what he was doing to Joonmyun’s body.

Apparently, he’d failed in that, because he squeaked as Sehun stepped toward him, feeling crowded as he bumped into the wall even if Sehun was still a foot away. He lifted his chin, refusing to be cowed, but fuck, Sehun made him want to beg.

“You smell like you, ah,” and Sehun stumbled, like he wasn’t sure he actually wanted to say what he was thinking.

“You don’t sense it like an omega does, but it comes from working in a place like this, surrounded by alphas,” Joonmyun said. His ears were hot, but his tone was even. He couldn’t be embarrassed by his reaction, not enough to keep from explaining it. Sehun knew, most likely, but he had to know also that it wasn’t just him that made Joonmyun’s body react. It very much was Sehun then that provoked him, but it had happened before, sometimes almost as strong. “You don’t have to worry about it.”

Sehun pressed his lips together. “It just smells… It’s like you’re asking for someone.”

Joonmyun had heard it in all sorts of ways, that he smelled like he was begging to be fucked, that he was ready to kneel. He’d heard it crass, and careful, and wry, and none of those statements had quite the weight of Sehun’s.

“Like I’m offering?” Joonmyun asked, choosing that word carefully.

There was a difference between how his scent was perceived and how he really felt. At least, he thought there was.

“Not really. It’s not an invitation, but more like a question you’re waiting for an answer to. Do you ever want an alpha to answer?”

A nice way of asking if he often went around wanting to get knotted. And his eyes, his traitorous eyes, caught at the bulge of Sehun’s pants.

“Sometimes. Sometimes they try. But what can they do,” Joonmyun choked out, because it seemed like, for a moment, that Sehun was about to offer something, anything, and he didn’t know if he’d be able to turn him down when all he wanted to do was slide to his knees.

“Joonmyun?”

It was his boss, and Joonmyun wanted to cringe. Instead, he stood straighter, tried to keep his breathing controlled. “Yes. Yes, I’m sorry.”

For a moment Kyuhyun looked between Sehun and Joonmyun, before waving a hand at Joonmyun. “Follow me for a moment. Sehun, stay here.”

It felt like his whole body protested leaving Sehun’s sphere of scent, but he felt almost more like he could think again when he was closed into the nearest room. He was still hard, but it would fade. And he had no worries of his safety, even in an alpha’s presence. Kyuhyun was in a strong bond, and Joonmyun’s scent would be little more than the annoyance of a gnat to him.

“You’ve been here several years and I have never seen you react to an alpha that way.”

“He has an appealing smell,” Joonmyun admitted. Then again, so did many of them. “It’s possible my body is in flux. Certainly during work hours, I would never have… I wouldn’t have.“

Joonmyun just barely kept himself from wincing as Kyuhyun leaned back and considered him. He would never have seduced the newest alpha, and Kyuhyun had to know that. Not for making out, and not for more, which usually came with the promise of a bond, a mating.

“Perhaps you should, if that is what you’re wanting. He’s one of our few new alphas who have never experienced an omega’s care. If his scent appeals to _you_ , then it’s no wonder he is drawn to you. Though if that is something you’d not prefer, we can find another guide for him so that you can stay at the desk.”

Leaving that warm scent.

“I’ll give it another day.”

He didn’t have to ask if Kyuhyun meant that Sehun wanted him. All he had to do was admit it to himself.

“Make sure the desk is staffed. We aren’t here to stand in the way of a reaction like that.”

He was being given leave to pause his work and take a break to fool around. Joonmyun didn’t have to be told to think about it, because he already was. It made it twice as hard to meet Sehun’s eyes, but he did anyway. At least being apart for a few minutes have given him the chance to get himself together. He could at least make sure that Sehun was secure in his place there. Anything else would have to be after that.

***

The door shutting, locking, sounded final, but it made Joonmyun ache. All there was in the room was a bed that was neatly made, a bathroom with shower. And there, staring at him and breathing fast, Sehun. Joonmyun had looked up from his work desk, and Sehun had still been across the room. Joonmyun had known he was there, but he hadn’t been expected Sehun to be staring back.

It was simple enough to make sure the desk was staffed, and to follow Sehun back. He hadn’t needed words, because Sehun’s smell had been enough. But he’d bared his teeth in a grimace, proof that he caught Joonmyun’s arousal. And that was what had Joonmyun standing.

“I’ve never been with an omega,” Sehun said, when they were alone. It was a matter of fact statement, not hesitant, and something about that made Joonmyun shiver, just a bit.

“It’s not all that different than a beta,” Joonmyun said. “Though you will almost never need lubrication, and omegas can go longer.”

Though how much longer quite depended on the omega and the partner involved. Joonmyun didn’t even want to begin speculating how Sehun could inspire him, when he was already shifting side to side and trying to divine Sehun’s body beneath his clothes. It had been the subject of a few daydreams at the desk, but something else entirely when he actually had a chance to find out.

“I knew that,” Sehun muttered.

It was good to get expectations out of the way, before lust really started to take over. If Sehun disagreed, then he could still leave. There were no expectations, not like that.

“And this is most important. You must know already, but you can’t knot me,” Joonmyun said, and Sehun nodded, the action immediate, agreeing.

“I know.”

It was fun. It was experience for Sehun, and mutual satisfaction from them both. But he had no illusions it was more. It was an alpha's duty to make the first move, and it was an alpha’s option to make the first touch, and Joonmyun stood, and let him, almost shivering at the tingle that exploded over his skin at the touch of Sehun’s hand against his neck. He cautioned himself patience, even if he wanted to throw himself at Sehun and show Sehun everything he’d learned about his own body and all the things he wanted to learn about Sehun’s. But he didn’t have to wait, because Sehun leaned in and pressed his mouth against Joonmyun’s within the next breath, eager, and solid. The sound Joonmyun made was involuntary, grasping at Sehun’s shirt, and trying to press into that kiss. He had no illusions that he was Sehun’s first kiss, too, but it didn’t matter as long as Sehun kept kissing him.

Yet still, he touched Sehun’s face and urged him to soften, just a little. To kiss _him_ and not just his mouth, to enjoy the subtlety of the kiss instead of using it as a substitute for what he wanted to do to Joonmyun’s body. It just pressed them closer, Sehun’s thigh sliding between his legs and it was so easy to rock on Sehun’s thigh, running his hands through Sehun’s hair. But he gasped, his hips grinding, and Sehun’s lips were slick against his as he came. Joonmyun laughed, startled, his body revving right away even as Sehun stared at him.

“Yeah, that was for you,” Joonmyun said. For a moment he considered just going on until he soaked through his pants, and kissing Sehun until he couldn’t stand it any more. But he considered the alternative. “Sit down.”

Sehun sat so fast, he nearly fumbled it, scooting back on the bed, his thighs wide and inviting. And Joonmyun had no reason to wait, kneeling and getting his eyes level with the straining fabric of Sehun’s pants. He rubbed it with his hand because he would have started to lick it otherwise, tugging at the button, the zipper and watching the fabric beneath press out even further. Lengthening, wet through the dark material and Joonmyun dragged that down and watched Sehun’s cock rise free from constriction. He would’ve admired it, would’ve rubbed himself in the scent of it, but he was too hungry. It was a different smell, essence of male and arousal, different from the scent of Sehun beneath and Joonmyun’s cock was begging for more. Joonmyun licked Sehun clean of what he had already spilt, his mouth wet with anticipation as his lips slid around the head of Sehun’s cock and ran his tongue along it.

Sehun’s hands were on his head, steadying him, letting him move his mouth along Sehun’s cock instead of Sehun fucking it. It let him enjoy it, exploring, figuring out how much he could take without fear of choking even as he stroked, vigorous and quick, eager to taste Sehun’s pleasure for himself like he’d been daydreaming of. If he could just get sucking Sehun off out of his system, he could file that appealing scent back into something he’d already tried. But that didn’t keep him from reaching down and squeezing himself through his pants, moaning around Sehun’s cock as he came a second time. He had to pause, breathing, his lips wet against Sehun’s cock and feeling him pulse right there against him.

“From sucking me,” Sehun murmured and Joonmyun sent him a bland look, keeping his eyes on Sehun’s as he took Sehun back into his mouth.

Joonmyun didn’t know who couldn’t get off from sucking Sehun, even the taste of him was sultry, rich and heady, and Joonmyun gurgled around Sehun as Sehun’s moans rose and abruptly cut off. He half wished he’d saved his orgasm for right then, the moment Sehun pressed as deep as he could into Joonmyun’s mouth, with Sehun’s fingers tight in Joonmyun’s hair, and coming for him. He pulled his head away and Joonmyun rolled his tongue through the come that Sehun gave him, savoring it as he leaned against Sehun’s thigh. He kept still as Sehun tilted back his head, letting Sehun’s thumb sweep over his lips and clean them and sucking Sehun’s fingertip clean.

And after a moment, Sehun said, “Wow.”

It made Joonmyun laugh, wincing a bit as he stood because of his wet, starting to go cold, pants.

“I’m going to go back to work,” he said. Though there was a spot there on Sehun’s shoulder that looked like it would be good to nap against.

Sehun blinked at him like the concept of work was foreign, at least for a moment. “Oh. Yes. I. Thank you?”

Sehun winced, and Joonmyun stroked over that same shoulder instead, soothing him. 

“Thank you,” he said, and had to look away not long after Sehun met his eyes. There was a question there that he didn’t know how to read. So he left instead, heading to shower quickly before going back to work. He was going to smell like Sehun for the rest of the day, even if flushed his mouth. But he couldn’t really regret it.

***

“Joonmyun?”

Joonmyun’s head popped up, recognizing Sehun’s voice and realizing he’d been deep in concentration if he hadn’t realized that Sehun had come into the room. His face heated, inhaling and tilting his head to match Sehun’s. It had been two days since he’d been on his knees, and he’d had to keep his head down more when he caught Sehun’s scent because he didn’t have to imagine any more.

“Sorry. Is there something I can do for you?” Joonmyun asked.

That sheepish way that Sehun grinned at him, that wasn’t allowed.

“Maybe not right now,” Sehun offered, and Joonmyun was having none of that.

“Give me five— No, give me ten minutes. I’ll meet you there.”

It’d give him time to get his brain back together, to make sure everything was set. If Sehun stayed near the desk, all he’d have was Sehun’s scent and that wouldn’t do at all. 

It made him shudder, the solid press of Sehun’s body against him, pressing him back into the door and kissing his mouth, along his jaw, his neck.

“Sehun,” he sighed, and mapped the muscles of Sehun’s back, clutching his ass and pulling him closer as Sehun chuckled and skimmed his teeth along Joonmyun’s skin. It made him grumble, “Tease.”

But it wasn’t a tease, but a promise as Sehun lifted his shirt and kissed down his chest and belly. It was some out of body experience, looking down to see Sehun on his knees and sucking him. And he was glad that Sehun’s hands were strong because he jerked against the door and braced himself on Sehun’s shoulders, and came until his knees couldn’t hold him any longer. Three times. Three times, in Sehun’s mouth, and Sehun had to half carry him to the bed, pulling Joonmyun over him and letting Joonmyun kiss him however he wanted as Joonmyun slowly, wetly, stroked Sehun’s cock until Sehun was moaning against his cheek. Joonmyun’s fingertips grazed the knot, and fled away, tracing the contours of Sehun’s heaving chest instead. Time loomed, and he hated it, giving Sehun’s heart time to slow and his breath to even at least, before Joonmyun extracted himself from Sehun’s possessive arm.

He felt steadier, more in control as he finished straightening down his shirt. But there was Sehun, rumpled and a bit sleepy eyed, and he couldn’t resist bending down and kissing Sehun’s mouth. 

“Okay, I’m going,” he said, and hesitated before offering. It was more of a hope, too, not just out of the goodness of his heart. “If you still need me, I’ll have some time before I go home.”

“I’ll still need you,” Sehun said immediately, and Joonmyun stared back at him, the laugh immediate and startled out of his throat.

He actually flushed, that little grin that Sehun shot him.

“I’ll stop by then. We’ll see,” Joonmyun told him. And he nearly ran into the door trying to get back into the hall. It was possible that his body would get used to Sehun’s sent, that the want would even out over time. Even his body needed rest, and that was the only reason he kept himself from turning around and going back inside.

***

It wasn’t some taboo, not knotting an omega before a bond or claim was in place. But it was so easy to go from one, innocent little fuck, to a lifetime together because of a spontaneous claim. He’d taken so many classes on it, the hormones, the physical reasons for it. It wasn’t some fuck of true love, but biology at work, helped out by the knot, the tie. People weren’t sure. Most times people had to work at it to make it happen, but sometimes it was once, and it was done.

There were times he could understand why, because sometimes when Sehun was over him, when they were rocking together, when he felt like he was in the middle of a fire that was burning him up and taking him over, he thought of lifting his hips and begging. _Knot me. Please. Please, Sehun._ It felt like it would consume him. He actually gasped, his mouth opening as though to ask just that, even just to feel Sehun rubbing against him, just the hint of pressing inside of him. Just that. He clung to Sehun’s shoulders as he came, moaning against his neck as he felt Sehun come all over his belly. And when Sehun pulled away from him wanting to rest, Joonmyun pushed himself to his feet and reached for his pants. He might have liked to have stayed, to have lingered in the pleasure, but he needed time to think. That was what he needed. Why he’d even let himself think that, when he’d been the one who had reminded Sehun of what they could not do.

“I should get going,” he said, muffled for a moment as he put his shirt on. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

But when he was almost ready to go for his shoes, Sehun stopped him.

“Thanks,” Sehun said roughly into his neck, holding him from behind and keeping him from leaving, just feet away from the door. “Sometimes it’s hard, like that. I just can’t help thinking about what we could be doing. If—”

If they had an agreement. It made him shiver, the honesty in that, when all he felt like he needed was the release of knowing an alpha had taken him fully. But Sehun would have other omegas to cuddle and moan for. Most alphas waited a while before choosing an omega. The sweat had barely dried off of his acceptance as an alpha.

Sehun kissed him, and Joonmyun’s eyes lingered at Sehun’s mouth for a moment.

“I know,” Joonmyun said. “I’ll see you later.”

And Joonmyun pulled away, leaving Sehun mostly naked and alone, and he did not pause at his desk, going to straight to the highest office. It took only a moment of being studied before Kyuhyun nodded.

“It’s time, then.”

Joonmyun exhaled. “It has taken long enough, but yes. I need time away, I think.”

There hadn’t been a single point in his life when he’d been tempted, when he’d wanted a claim that much. Lingering in it made him afraid that even with just as much as they had done together, even the press of Sehun’s mouth against his neck, was putting him in danger. He thought of Sehun telling him that he smelled as though his body was asking a question, asking for someone. Maybe Sehun had been more right than he’d realized.

“It’s been something we have been getting ready for, in case. Did Sehun tell you when he would ask for you?”

“Sehun?” Joonmyun asked, feeling like he had lost the conversation for a moment before Kyuhyun’s eyebrows rose. “Oh. No, Sehun is too new. There are omegas not ready to take a mate that will be able to satisfy him until he is ready to choose.”

“Then you don’t feel he is your mate? I guess it’s true that a physical connection doesn’t make a mate, though you two were suited that way. Have you tested your compatibility against him?”

It was a simple test, a blood test given when they were young, and again when their bodies changed after puberty. Those tests were used to determine compatibility, the likelihood that a claim might be made. The lower the score, the less likely something spontaneous would happen, but things happened anyway. It predicted on a number of factors, but wasn’t always completely accurate. Of matches that Joonmyun had heard of, sometimes there were anywhere from three to ten close matches. But for the omegas, when they met those alphas, there had been one that stood out among the others. Even if the numbers weren’t closest, there was something deeper there that could not be measured. Biological, emotional connections that could not be forged or predicted. And there in that room, Joonmyun’s test was there, and so were Sehun’s. He’d been scanned at initiation. 

“Have you compared us?” Joonmyun wondered. It wasn’t a breach of privacy, those lists of numbers that meant little to him. It was as normal as stating a star sign, and sometimes as confusing.

“That first day I saw you together,” Kyuhyun said, his voice a bit wry. “92%. A solid compatibility though not the highest I’ve seen by far. Still, it indicates a strong trend in your favor. Chemistry between two people can’t be predicted by these tests alone. If an omega finds only one match, we advise the omega council to wait. But this is not so opaque as that. Joonmyun, do you anticipate finding an alpha who appeals to you more than Sehun?”

“I don’t…” Joonmyun’s voice trailed off. He knew what the next question would be. Especially as an omega who had been surrounded by alphas, he had been in a position to experience ways an alpha made him feel.

Sehun had been unique, from the fact that he was still interested after their first encounter, to the way that Sehun’s scent lingered with him, as easy to pull into his mind as the scent of chocolate or coffee. Save a few alpha friends, even men he had made out with had never left an impression like that.

“I’d have to think if I’d say yes or no,” Joonmyun said. That was what he said anyway. What his gut feeling told him was something different.

And Kyuhyun didn’t argue. “You’ll be able to oversee as much as possible from home. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” Joonmyun said.

And he looked behind himself, a place of safety and growth and learning for him. It was still his place, at least for right then.

***

The clock’s hour had had just eased past the seven when Joonmyun startled at the loud knock on the door. A package, a neighbor. He had no idea what to expect, but as he pressed his hand beside the door, before he even properly inhaled he knew. But seeing Sehun outside of his door didn’t make any more sense than he had expected it to.

“Hi?” he said, and waited for a moment as Sehun looked at him, said hello back. “Do you want to come in?”

His space, his home, and Sehun in it. Not sterile halls and meeting rooms, and official desks. Sehun smoldered there, his eyebrows drawn, and for a moment, Joonmyun almost jittered.

“Do you want tea? I’ll get tea.”

Something for his hands to do, to keep his mind or body from racing away from his questions. The question why was the biggest one, and Joonmyun fumbled the tea container when Sehun stepped up behind him, his fingers hooking in the soft cloth at Joonmyun’s neck and tugging. The press of lips against the top of his shoulder made him gasp. His fingers actually hurt, gripping the counter in front of him and giving in, giving in and leaning back and feeling Sehun’s lips and breath both caress his neck. If his knees gave a little, it didn’t matter, because Sehun’s arms were holding him up.

“Kyuhyun told me you weren’t coming back for a while,” Sehun said.

Of course he had. Joonmyun’s eyes closed before he turned, letting his back lean against the counter as he faced Sehun. Sehun deserved that. “I need some time to figure out the next stage of my life. I want… I want more, now.”

“You found an alpha who would offer that to you?” Joonmyun shook his head, and Sehun inhaled. “But you left because I hadn’t?”

“No. No, it wasn’t because of you. All those years of working with alphas, of finding them desirable, I hadn’t needed anything else. It’s time for me.”

“You’re going to let them scan you for a match?”

“That’s the way it’s usually done.” They would scan him against other alphas, not just Kyuhyun’s idle matching. And he would test their scents out for himself, a true compatibility in more than just the capability to mate. He just didn’t know how he would smell to those alphas, and Joonmyun frowned, remembering. “Did you ever figure out the question you thought my smell was asking?”

“I don’t know. I kept trying to figure it out, and…” Sehun’s fingers trailed along Joonmyun’s jaw. “Can I?”

What was one kiss? He nodded, tilted his head and offering. And the warmth was so subtle, the press of Sehun’s lips against his, the tiniest bit damp, and he stared at them for the briefest moment when Sehun pulled away. But his was the moan of happiness when Sehun kissed him again, his hand moving to cup the back of Joonmyun’s neck, kissing him soft and frantic. Sehun knew how he liked to be kissed and it had Joonmyun clutching at him, almost dizzy at the way that Sehun pulled him in so effortlessly. It was just one kiss. Or a dozen, really, as Sehun’s forehead pressed against his.

“92%,” Sehun said, and Joonmyun tensed. “Kyuhyun didn’t tell me until I asked. It’s a good number.”

Sehun almost fumbled with the last word and Joonmyun smiled. “Yes. But numbers aren’t enough. You have a lot of—“

“I know what I want. It doesn’t matter how long I’ve been of age. I don’t know what the question that your smell is asking is, but I’ve been thinking about what the answer is. I think it’s me.”

From another person, it might’ve sounded arrogant, and there was certainly a confidence to the way that Sehun said it. But it was vulnerable, too, like he was waiting to be called on his feeling, told he was wrong, sent away.

92%, and a man who saw a question that none else had bothered to consider. Sehun had come after him, and there was that part of him that had been in denial that had hoped for it. Sehun wanted him enough to want, not just risk, the claim. Sehun wanted to stay with him.

“Is it me?” Sehun wondered. Could it be.

“Yes. Please,” he said, and gasped when Sehun lifted him. “Please.”

He half laughed, winding his legs around Sehun’s waist and clinging as Sehun nearly took them into the bathroom before finding Joonmyun’s bed and spreading them both on it. All he wanted was more of Sehun’s mouth, and to feel him and know it was something they both wanted. He wriggled, shoving as his pants, the kiss slowing as Sehun tried to help him. They knew how to do that, tugging on clothes, on lips, Sehun grumbling into his neck as he struggled with his own clothes.

Sehun had felt how wet he could get before, running his fingers through it and teasing Joonmyun as they got off together, but it was different there, sprawled under Sehun and waiting. Sehun’s fingers sank into him and Joonmyun moaned, pressing up against them, his hips pumping, trying to get Sehun to fuck him with them. It wasn’t what he wanted but it was a placeholder, enough to keep him from just stroking himself and giving in to the lust. 

“Are you just going to tease?” Joonmyun asked, his voice all breathy. And that was before Sehun met his eyes and nearly dissolved him with the want he saw there.

“I don’t know how long I’ll last,” Sehun said.

Joonmyun wished he had something to grab, a tie, anything he could use to pull Sehun closer. As it was, all he had to do was hold out his arms and Sehun was there, braced over him and searching Joonmyun’s face.

“I’ll take my chances,” Joonmyun said, and touched his knees to Sehun’s sides.

And the loss of Sehun’s fingers meant that he got more, his thighs widening to make room for Sehun’s hips, relaxing as Sehun nearly whimpered as he began to slide in. It was his own welcome, a shiver passing through him as his body adjusted and begged for more. Not just the way that Sehun was shifting, that wasn’t all he wanted, but more. He nearly came right then, his whole body jittering on the edge, driving by the long slides, the short ones. The way that Sehun’s breathing seemed to follow the movement of his hips, the way he stared down at how Joonmyun’s body took him and back at Joonmyun’s face, amazed.

“Joonmyun.”

Joonmyun nodded, welcoming Sehun’s body draping closer. He smelled like glory, want, and home, and it made Joonmyun shudder, his lips brushing over Sehun’s shoulder, his neck, gripping along his back. He was so hard, just from the friction of Sehun’s body, the desperate pumping of his hips as Sehun groaned, low, and coming against Sehun’s belly was like a surrender, gasping Sehun’s name. He moaned, almost felt like he purred, as Sehun sucked a mark against his neck, wanting to do the same for Sehun, to make him feel that pleasure, too. And Sehun’s prediction was right, because it wasn’t long before he could feel the fullness of the knot beginning to press against him and it enflamed him. He felt empty, even with Sehun’s cock plunging into him. His hand shook, fumbling, touching Sehun’s face pleading with him.

“You want my knot?” Sehun asked against his neck, and Joonmyun felt too hot, too empty.

“Yes. Please. Sehun.”

“Please what?”

Sehun wanted to hear it, wanted to hear him say it so they both knew he wanted it.

“Sehun, knot me, please.”

Sehun’s cock had filled him, stretched him, but tingles encompassed his whole body as Sehun urged his thickening knot into Joonmyun. It hurt, stretched him wider than he imagined, but it was in before his body could stop smarting, and Sehun’s hips were jolting against his, forcing his cock deeper as Sehun moaned and fucked him hard. Joonmyun yelped at the tug of the growing knot as Sehun’s hips rolled, like he was trying to pull it out, but the sound he made when it grew harder, shoved deeper, was more like a wheeze. Sehun was so deep, his knot so thick, he couldn’t move, his frantic hips only serving to grind the knot in him until Joonmyun was babbling and his cock dripping against his belly. Sehun was grunting, grinding against him and their bodies jolted together as Sehun’s orgasm crested, the knot throbbing as he emptied into Joonmyun. He’d come against Joonmyun before, but the knot held him as Sehun moaned for him.

“Joonmyun.”

That was what it felt to be knotted, tied together, a claim staked for the duration of the knot, and Joonmyun shuddered. Sehun smelled like a wildfire when he wrapped his fingers around Joonmyun’s cock, and he rumbled as Joonmyun gasped and his thighs trembled. The slick sound of Sehun stroking him was as obscene as the sound of Sehun fucking him had been, and Joonmyun’s whole body flexed beneath Sehun. Sehun wasn’t fucking him with his cock, but seducing him with his knot, jittering his hips until Joonmyun was helpless but to tighten around the knot and every squeeze traveled straight through him.

“Sehun,” he begged.

Sehun inside him, knotting him, looming above him and panting against him. Sehun, stroking his cock, wet and quick, and Joonmyun’s eyes rolled back, his body seized as Sehun’s hand made him come over his chest and stomach. And Sehun lifted him with an arm under Joonmyun’s back, pulling him above the mattress with the knot wedged in him, and instead of slowing, Sehun stroked Joonmyun’s cock faster. Joonmyun thrashed, his gasps punctuated by unconscious cries, eyes focused on nothing at all as he clutched around Sehun’s knot, and clutched around the knot, and shook apart as he came in Sehun’s hand. The orgasm lasted forever, cresting and wavering and almost seeming to build further as he gasped twice more.

And all he knew was a throbbing, pleasant haze, his body lax when Sehun let him down, and his cheek flushed against the sheet. But he wasn’t cold, far from it, with Sehun draped over him and very still, careful not to stimulate him even though Joonmyun’s body tightened around the knot every so often.

It made him shudder every time.

He didn’t know how long he drifted in the haze, long after Sehun had stopped breathing hard, until Sehun had stopped being afraid of touching and had taken up a gentle petting of Joonmyun’s thigh. He hadn’t known he could come that hard, that it would be that good. He could still feel all his toes, and the faint hum under Sehun’s breath. He didn’t feel different. Satisfied, overheated, thirsty, deliciously covered up, yes, but not inherently different. It was proof what they had done wasn’t irreversible, not yet. Maybe that was the best way, to give them time to adjust. But it would be forever, eventually. He closed his eyes and kissed Sehun’s neck. His hair was slick against Joonmyun’s fingers, and Joonmyun wanted everything.

“Don’t go tonight,” Joonmyun murmured.

“Won’t. I promise,” Sehun said.

Water could wait, then, because he didn’t want to let Sehun go.

***

It took 30 minutes to convince either of them to really move, and Sehun was the one who got up, who fetched towels and a warm cloth and water, stroking over Joonmyun’s collarbones and staring at him like he was fascinating when Joonmyun cuddled closer. It hadn’t been compatibility, or a smell, or anything else that had finished drawing them together. He thought it was something more, and when Sehun grunted and clutched Joonmyun a little tighter, he smiled against Sehun’s neck and knew exactly who he would wake to.

***


	2. Part Two

***

Joonmyun had rarely felt regret going into the alpha council to work, and he had never had someone to look forward to as he did Sehun. Many days he went without seeing Sehun at all, but there were times when he looked up to the sound of conversation after a meeting, to see Sehun tall and impossibly broad among his peers. He had eyes only for Sehun, and his heart lifted when Sehun turned his head, looking for him. The others teased, they must have, when Sehun broke away to greet Joonmyun. It was a brush of fingers, little more, but it was enough as Joonmyun sighed. He smelled of Sehun, and Sehun of him, so there was no surprise there. They had, from the night he’d walked out of the alpha council intent to find a mate.

Joonmyun’s leave ended not a week after it had started. There was no sense taking time away when he no longer had to shelter against wanting an alpha. No, Sehun had been in his bed the whole of that week. Though, one of those nights had been spent squeezed together on Sehun’s tiny mattress whispering and kissing and talking late into the night. Beyond the want and comfort that was the outward scent connection, hearing Sehun talk made him grin, and seeing his texts was nearly as good as seeing Sehun in person. And that connection spun out to two weeks, three, a month. Kyuhyun was smug, because he’d known that a match was likely when he’d started giving them permission.

Getting knotted regularly didn’t stem off the want when Sehun wandered around inside of the alpha council building, but he at least had an outlet. And he had breaks and lunches, if things got too desperate. Instead of putting him on edge, it was a comfort to know Sehun was not too far away. And because he smelled so strongly of alpha, no one tried to give him advice or nagged at him because it hadn’t resulted in a bond. He would have told them off himself, and it irked him a little to know they held their tongue because it was Sehun they would face in a challenge if Joonmyun complained. There was no doubt that Sehun would have fought for him, but he was glad it hadn’t come up.

Not to him, at least.

Sehun waited for him outside each night, letting Joonmyun take his hand, or wrapping his arm around Joonmyun’s shoulders. There was the debate of what to eat, merging into the privacy and comfort of home. There was a chair, just big enough for both of them to be friendly in as the TV sang some cheery tune trying to sell face wash.

“One of the alphas asked me…” Sehun started, and then all but squirmed in closer to Joonmyun as Joonmyun’s eyebrows rose. “They wondered why it was taking so long for this to take.”

Joonmyun blinked over at the top of Sehun’s head. This, the process of their mating, waiting for a bond. It was a personal thing, not really some topic of discussion. But Joonmyun didn’t know how many alphas Sehun knew who were mated. Though it didn’t matter. There were pamphlets aplenty that Sehun could read, no matter his life experiences.

“It takes a while sometimes.”

“I know,” Sehun said, rubbing his cheek against Joonmyun’s shirt. “Everything else was so strong, I just thought…”

“The magic of your knot was going to tie us together immediately for all eternity?” Joonmyun said, and Sehun snorted. It was probably close to what he’d been imagining. Many times the bonding happened before love did. So much so that it was some kind of antiquated holdover from arranged bondings, to not acknowledge emotion until the bond had taken, as though saying it aloud would prevent the bond from happening. But just because it wasn’t acknowledged didn’t mean it wasn’t there.

Sehun had wanted to be his answer. Had hoped, when he’d taken Joonmyun to bed. Maybe he’d hoped every time. The other alphas, likely older alphas, had started Sehun’s doubt. And they should have known better to rib a young alpha intent to bond. It had him blowing out a slow breath to try and hide his anger, but there was a little voice nagging at him. Sehun had been so newly initiated, and Joonmyun his first omega. Maybe he’d conflated Joonmyun’s want with his own.

Not all compatibility was on both sides.

“Do you have doubts about us?” Joonmyun asked. He hated that the words even left his lips, and yet he had to know that. Doubts of the choice, worries, all of those should have been at rest before a knot ever happened. But should have wasn’t real life sometimes. It hadn’t felt rushed, but right. 

Sehun’s head popped up, ready to talk face to face it seemed. “I want the bond. I just— What if the 92% isn’t enough? What if there was someone better in a match testing for you?”

He wondered how long Sehun had been turning that worry over in his head. Bringing up worries was too late, after the bond had formed, but they wouldn’t have been having the conversation at all, if it taken already.

“Not everyone goes through testing for a match,” Joonmyun said. He knew Sehun knew that, too, but it was different hearing it. Some people were lucky. The matching, it was a convenience for those who didn’t want to hope.

“When I came for you, you were going to, though,” Sehun said. 

“I was ready to start the search for a mate,” Joonmyun confirmed. “Though, there wasn’t any guarantee I’d have found someone right away, and what we have is what I’d been wanting to find anyway.”

“What if you had, though? What if you’d found someone who matched you more?”

“More isn’t always better,” Joonmyun said. Numbers were just numbers when it came to connections. “Don’t doubt yourself.”

Numbers weren’t what made him warm when Sehun kissed him, and never would be. Sehun had a key to his apartment. Joonmyun wasn’t waiting for if, but when. The bashful looks that turned into needy ones when Joonmyun spoke dirty to him. The way Sehun melted when Joonmyun rubbed his shoulders. Every sleepy day at work because they couldn’t stop talking had been more.

But Sehun turned it over, and over, and over, bring up the matching process, looking at brochures for it. He’d seen a bond counsellor, on Joonmyun’s urging, and the counsellor had him bring in Joonmyun once as well. And while it had hurt to hear Sehun admit again that he was afraid he wasn’t good enough for Joonmyun, Joonmyun didn’t know how much further that went than biologically. He wasn’t privy to it, but whatever the counsellor had said, the visits had eased things, a little. 

Except every day that ended without a bonding, he could see it written on Sehun’s face, and sometimes when Joonmyun breathed against Sehun’s hair, it was not the comfort and warmth of fire, but acrid charcoal, crumbling. It was Sehun’s doubt, and Joonmyun realized that if that went unchecked, Sehun too might crumble out of reach. 

Until one day Joonmyun asked, “Will me going through a matching make you sure that we’re meant, and that we can wait for our bond to happen no matter how long it takes?”

It left a bitter taste in his mouth that Sehun did not immediately protest. It made him sad, and still, he understood. Sehun seemed to have fixated on that as the source of their problem - even if a problem didn’t truly exist.

“I— Is that what you want?”

“No, I don’t need a matching to be sure of you,” Joonmyun said, wasting no words. “Since you chose me and I accepted you, I’ve been waiting for our bond, too.”

He didn’t bother saying the things that Sehun knew and had been told. That it took time, that they should enjoy it and let biology decide its due time. Even the least compatible bond pairs were fully mated within a year.

“At least you wouldn’t have any questions,” Sehun faltered out.

What Joonmyun really heard: that Sehun would only be sure when they could rule out the matches that Joonmyun might have been offered if he’d decided to try that instead of choosing Sehun.

It didn’t matter if Joonmyun’s heart was engaged, if he was honest with himself, since even before he’d taken himself away from the alpha council to think of bonding. Of course, Sehun only knew that by what Joonmyun had showed him, and that apparently wasn’t enough to convince him. He could have shouted of love and determination, but to what end he didn’t know. To arrange a matching session was a small enough commitment. One he’d arranged from the alpha council’s side dozens of times.

“Then that’s what we do,” Joonmyun said. And that was that. It took him five minutes to send in his application, and less than twelve hours later he went home on his lunch break to pack, and stopped off at work to be sure all was set for his brief vacation. It seemed Sehun got him to take time off from work one way or another.

Sehun came in thirty minutes after that, which Joonmyun hoped had been because he’d gotten his texts. He murmured to the desk staff that he would be back, and led Sehun to an empty conference room.

“This is really happening?” Sehun blurted.

“It is. My leave from work has already been approved, and the omega council has a room open for me. The process will start this afternoon.”

“I didn’t realize it was going to be so soon. I thought we were going to talk first.”

They’d been talking of it for weeks. It seemed like the only time they hadn’t spoken of it was in bed. It was nearly too late to declare it a bad idea, with everything in motion. The alphas matched to him were going to be notified, space had been made for him. It made something hitch inside him that Sehun thought it was a bad idea, because he’d thought that from the moment he hadn’t been running on fumes of indignation and fear. 

He nearly parted his lips to ask Sehun if he really wanted Joonmyun to go through with it, and stopped when he wondered how manipulative that would be. Even if Sehun was startled with how quick things were moving, Joonmyun didn’t truly doubt that Sehun wanted Joonmyun to go through with it. So instead, all had to do was explain.

“They’ll remove any outside scents from me. Then, after I’m ready, I’ll be taken to a room with other omegas to help, and only the highest matching alphas that they have found for me. If any of them are appealing, I’ll be able to talk with them alone. If not… Then that round of matching is considered void and I’m free to return home.”

As Joonmyun had talked, there was something in Sehun’s eyes that looked like apprehension, and Joonmyun wondered if he was reading too much into it. He was doing it to rule out a better match, doing it so that Sehun didn’t have to worry, but he couldn’t guarantee there wouldn’t be a spark between him and someone else. It didn’t work that way. There wasn’t just one person for anyone, alpha or omega. It was hard to imagine anyone smelling more appealing, being more compatible, feeling more comfortable, but it was possible.

He thought maybe if Sehun had asked him not to go, he would have cancelled immediately. Maybe Sehun felt they’d gone too far to stop. Maybe his fear of Joonmyun finding another alpha didn’t outweigh his fear that they’d been too hasty. They’d have their answers, one way or another.

“Then we’ll be sure,” Joonmyun said, wrapping his arms around Sehun and inhaling into his shoulder. If he could infuse Sehun with that, he hoped he succeeded. That was the last hug, Sehun’s arms tight around him and unnatural silence behind him, before Joonmyun left.

***

It was a ritual. On arrival, all of his belongings were taken from him, some for safekeeping and some to be laundered. There were three showers, getting progressively cooler, and then he was soaked in a heated pool, and showered again. An omega massaged him, poured water into him, and he was baked, and washed again. Joonmyun felt like putty when he was wrapped in a white robe and led to a room that was almost sterile, a tablet and keyboard loaned there for his use, his own bed and bath and another meal. He could barely smell his own scent, and there was nothing left to smell of the outside on him. It was less intense on the second day, another massage, meditation, free use of the walled gardens, and libraries. Freeing an omega from the outside, the scents, the distractions, it meant a match could not be questioned. Omegas came and went, an endless cycle of matchings. Some would end in a bond, most wouldn’t.

Even the smell of candle smoke reminded Joonmyun of Sehun, and it made him restless. All the stress had been soaked and baked and pummeled out of him, but Sehun wasn’t in some ritual. He was going about his life as usual. Maybe he was afraid. Or grateful. Maybe Sehun had doubted their future, and hadn’t been able to say it in another way or had been too afraid to. But Joonmyun had been equally too afraid to ask.

He just wanted it to be the right thing for both of them. It wouldn’t be something they could fling at each other in five years, that Joonmyun had never seen if there was someone else out there. Because he was trying, at least just the once.

The morning of the matching day dawned with another round of cleansing, a long and relaxing afternoon with another massage, his hair carefully styled, dressed in un-dyed cotton that wrapped around his middle and pants that fell almost to the floor. It began as the sun set, an affectation that ended the day spent alone as an omega, and to begin a lifetime of nights and days together as a bonded pair.

All of the men they had chosen had been higher ranked than Sehun in compatibility, with the lowest being 92.5%. That was all the information they gave him, not names, or who the compatibility tests belonged to. They didn’t want that to cloud his choosing. He was led through a maze, nearly through an airlock, and let into that room with five alphas waiting. He’d been surrounded by omegas for days and that rush of scent, it felt like his whole body began to throb. Pheromones up to the ceiling, and a couple of the alphas stood up straighter.

Joonmyun inhaled deep, doing what he had promised, searching for something that smelled right. He smelled ice, soured milk, something sweet like peaches. The scents all mingled, one into another, and even as he introduced himself, inhaled near each man, he waited for a scent to catch him.

He sent them away, one by one.

***

The alphas had not worn the numbers of their compatibility on their chest like some kind of a badge, but Joonmyun recognized the faces when he looked at their profiles after. The alpha on the end, the one with the highest rating, he’d had a nice face. If it had been decades before, when those numbers had been used to match omegas with willing alphas regardless of the wants of the omegas, he could have ended up with that man. If the alpha had been willing, anyway. He tried to imagine being knotted by a man who smelled like a glacier for the rest of his life, and it made his skin pebble. It was why the omega council had taken over the matchings, so that no one, alpha or omega, was at the mercy of a number set and dictated mating.

A large plastic box was set on the table in front of him, and Joonmyun set aside the folders. “What is this?”

“Before you go into the onslaught of scents, there’s one last test provided to us by Kyuhyun at the alpha council,” his attendant omega said, and released the lid.

Joonmyun’s toes curled, moaning as he reached into the box and pulled out a soft, dark sweater that smelled of smoke and heat. He pressed it to his mouth and inhaled long and slow. There was no doubt in him. Sehun had worn it. It had been against Sehun’s skin.

“I hope that answers your questions,” she said. “Your clothes and belongings are waiting in dressing room two.”

In other words, he was free to go. He didn’t send a second glance back at the alpha profiles, just carrying Sehun’s sweater with him, and after a long shower to wash away the scent of the alphas, he slipped into his street clothes. It took some doing to tuck the sweater into his bag, but it was all over. He stepped out into the dark street to meet his waiting cab, and knew he had to find what was next.

***

It felt almost strange to be letting himself back into his apartment after a week away. It smelled like home, and it smelled of Sehun, the two scents intertwining. He tugged Sehun’s sweater out of his bag, and was determined not too feel too ashamed as he inhaled against it again. It was too late to have Sehun with him that night, but he would have what was next best. He abandoned his suitcase, ready to relax and put everything behind him.

And he stopped short in his bedroom doorway to see Sehun slowly pushing himself up on the bed, one cheek lined and marked from the pillow. He’d been sleeping, and when he realized Joonmyun was staring at him, he startled, sliding to the edge of the bed and getting his dark socks onto the floor. Slacks, a buttoned shirt. It looked like Sehun had dressed so carefully, and there he was, waiting. Just seeing him there had Joonmyun blinking to fight back the welling relief.

“Have you been staying here?” Joonmyun asked. The bed was rumpled, made differently than he had left it. He’d expected the apartment to be empty, cold.

“Only the last couple of days. I didn’t know what time you were getting home. I didn’t mean to fall asleep, I was just—“ Sehun babbled, and stopped himself, swallowing. “Did you…?”

Sehun’s face was so severe, his brows drawing together waiting for Joonmyun to answer like he was expecting something horrible. And Joonmyun realized he was standing there, still hugging Sehun’s shirt.

“No, there were no matches right for me,” Joonmyun said, and just saying it out loud was a relief. “There was one alpha, a 96% match! And he smelled cold to me. When I turned away all of them, they brought this sweater to me, sealed. When I opened it—“

He hadn’t choked up like he was right then, with Sehun stepping forward and radiating everything he hadn’t found in the matching. Want, concern, warmth. Joonmyun was the one who reached first, pressing a surprisingly steady hand against Sehun’s shirtfront.

“So, I don’t think you have to be concerned about me,” Joonmyun said, and steeled himself because it wasn’t just him, not just his reaction. “And you? What— What do you want?”

“You,” Sehun said, and the force of it nearly rocked Joonmyun back as much as the glittering wetness in the corners of Sehun’s eyes did. “I missed you. What do I smell like?”

Sehun covered the hand that Joonmyun had put on his chest and squeezed it as Joonmyun’s eyes closed and he inhaled. He hadn’t been out looking for a new omega while Joonmyun was gone, but there, waiting for his to come home. And Sehun only squeezed his hand tighter as tears slipped down from under Joonmyun’s lashes.

“You smell like us,” Joonmyun breathed, and when he reached for Sehun, Sehun was right there, ready. Nothing compared to the actual warmth of Sehun against him. Sehun’s fingers against his face as Joonmyun pressed his lips against Sehun’s, the sweater slipping from Joonmyun’s fingers in favor of warm skin beneath Sehun’s shirt. It was hard to breathe, Sehun holding him so tightly, kissing him with such urgency. He’d missed it, missed everything. Missed the knotting, the closeness, the support. With Sehun’s nose against his face, his hands soothing against Joonmyun’s back, Joonmyun felt whole again for the first time since after his cleansing when he’d inhaled and hadn’t been able to smell Sehun at all.

Sehun kissed him until his tears were dry, and his occasional trembles weren’t from cold. The words next were not said so much as breathed, infused by touch as they nuzzled together.

“This is all I want, no matter how long it takes,” Joonmyun said.

Sehun nodded, the movement emphatic. “Me too. I love you.”

Joonmyun inhaled. To say that— It was like telling Joonmyun that he had no fear left, not even that of superstition.

“I’ve loved you for such a long time,” Joonmyun said, and he wasn’t sure if it was the words or the way he tugged on Sehun’s hair that had Sehun grinning. He all but climbed Sehun, huffing, lost to the warmth of Sehun’s mouth.

“I want to smell like you,” Joonmyun half demanded.

If Sehun was waiting for an invitation, it seemed that was it as he hoisted Joonmyun up and got them both to the bed. Joonmyun wiggled back, working on Sehun’s shirt as Sehun struggled with Joonmyun’s pants. His hands were stupid with want as he shook away his own shirt and hauled Sehun in, still half buttoned, kissing him. Sehun’s pants were barely open but he didn’t care. He needed Sehun close, needed him right then Joonmyun stroked through Sehun’s hair as they kissed, inhaling the comforting scent of smoke, want slipping through him as easy as breathing. He was whimpering for it, as Sehun slid over him, desperately slick and gasping against Sehun’s neck as he lifted his hips to try and fill himself. But Sehun took care of that for him, braced and careful, his eyes half lowering as he felt Joonmyun around him again.

“It’s okay,” Sehun told him, or maybe himself. He eased himself in, letting Joonmyun re-learn him after a week away.

“It’s okay,” Joonmyun agreed. Better than. Wonderful.

There was nothing bitter in Sehun’s scent, but it was smoke, and fire, and longing. That was the man who had told him that he was Joonmyun’s answer, who had strained his reason with the weight of wanting him. Alpha, kissing against his neck, licking, scenting him, even as his cock took slow, short strokes, stretching him, leading him to the want that was raging in him.

“More,” Joonmyun begged. More, like he’d wanted from the first time they’d touched at the alpha council. He was no longer a guide. Sehun knew him, how to please him, and Joonmyun had learned with him. He was dripping against his belly, his breath hitching as he tried to pull Sehun deeper with his legs. “I’m yours,” he said against Sehun’s neck, and Sehun moaned for him.

Sehun’s for all his days, to share all his wants and dreams. When he moaned, when he felt Sehun’s knot stretching him and Sehun’s gasp as Joonmyun arched beneath him. So many days away from Sehun’s scent and touch, and he was lost, crying out as he came to the rock of Sehun’s hips and way Sehun filled him. He shuddered, pleasure bleeding through him, a tug inside him as Sehun moaned, and their bodies tied. It felt like he was tugging Sehun in, a shiver against his skin as Sehun stilled, and breathed, with Joonmyun’s arms around him.

“Did you feel it?” Joonmyun whispered. That little buzz that he’d felt, when Sehun was against him, that promised that maybe what they’d been reaching for wasn’t all so far off. He’d wondered if they’d missed it before, if being away from each other or if the stress falling away had made it obvious.

“I did,” Sehun got out between panted breaths.

It was there. Maybe they had to reach for it a little longer, but they had no reason to doubt it. All of his belief that it was there when it was ready, the worries he’d never wanted to invite began to let him press them away. Sehun wanted him, and believed in him, and kissed against his neck and shoulder, and smiled against his lips.

That was a man who was content, Joonmyun saw, unable to resist his own smile as he stroked Sehun’s face. Relearning each other in the quiet was not so bad, just the scent of them together surrounding them. He kissed against Sehun’s fingers, and sighed almost in disappointment as the knot let them part.

Sehun wiggled over the the side of the bed, and looked back at Joonmyun over his shoulder.

“Did you want a hot shower?”

“As long as you’re in it with me,” Joonmyun said.

And Sehun grinned, and then helped him to stand and kissed him some more. They held each other up in the tiny shower, the closeness no issue but the heat sinking into Joonmyun’s bones as he leaned back into Sehun’s hold. He’d already washed away the scent of the other alphas, but it felt more like a cleansing for both of them with Sehun against him. Sehun wanted him, not just his body. Not just a diversion, when all they did was soothe, and wash, and kiss.

Sehun helped help Joonmyun to dry, and stayed near him as they readied for bed. And Sehun grasped Joonmyun’s fingers as he led Sehun to his bed. They crawled in together, skin against skin, and wriggled together, trying to get closer, trying to get comfortable until they were both satisfied, Sehun’s arm firmly snug around him.

“This is much better than hugging your sweater would have been,” Joonmyun said.

Sehun’s laugh was not well disguised, but Joonmyun didn’t even mind.

“Were you okay while I was gone?” Joonmyun asked, smoothing his fingers against Sehun’s side.

“Not… Not really? Kyuhyun wouldn’t even talk to me at first,” Sehun said, and Joonmyun wasn’t surprised. Kyuhyun had probably needed time to cool off, and he hadn’t been all that pleased when Joonmyun had told him what the plan was. “He wanted to know why I couldn’t let it go, when it was so obvious to everyone else.”

“It’s harder when it’s your own decision,” Joonmyun said.

It always would be, and it had been pressure Sehun put on himself, maybe with the expectations of others. It was a want of their own making, and it was a worry they could put behind themselves wholly.

“Were you scared?” Sehun asked.

“A little. I didn’t really think I’d find someone who fit better. Mostly I… When I did worry, it was because I wondered maybe if you hoped I found someone, or maybe wishing you’d held out for some other omega,” Joonmyun said.

“I hated every minute you were there,” Sehun said, after burying his face into Joonmyun’s neck. “I made you— I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t make me. I didn’t want you to worry.”

Sehun, sweet, afraid, loving him. He stroked his fingers through Sehun’s hair, feeling the last dampness from their shower there. That Sehun hadn’t stopped wanting him, wanting the bond with him, it soothed peace through him.

“Now you know that there is no one better,” Joonmyun teased, and had Sehun snuffling with laughter into his neck. “But I know because it’s what I feel, not because a number told me.”

“Me too,” Sehun said.

Or sighed, mostly, his hand getting slower where he’d been stroking Joonmyun’s side.

All they had to do was wait, and trust in each other. That was all that Joonmyun wanted.

***


End file.
